


That Sinking Feeling

by REINDOWN



Category: Gintama
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24542260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/REINDOWN/pseuds/REINDOWN
Summary: Did you know that Sakata Gintoki can't swim? Hijikata didn't. He found out though, but the timing wasn't exactly ideal.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 60





	That Sinking Feeling

“I swear to every God I know of,” Gintoki growled, his fingers white from his grip on the sides of the boat, each muscle in his body taut and popping, “if you keep rocking this damn thing-,”

Hijikata grinned sadistically and bucked his hips so that the boat bounced. “You scared, ay? Yorozuya?” And it was fair to say that Gintoki was terrified. His eyes bulged and though he tried to glare at the other man occupying the small boat, each time it rocked a little, his pupils flicked instead to the bottom of the raft in terror.

It was pleasing to see. Hijikata felt like, for once, he had the upper hand. He wasn’t about to give that up when there was so much fun to be had. The route on the strip of ocean between land and the giant rock they were heading to was reasonably calm; the land on either side of them was enough to quell the waves. However, it was unusually deep for this close to the beach. When Hijikata peered over the edge of their raft, only an inky blackness stared back at him. They had already rowed past the mast of a shipwreck poking through the waves, and that had been several hundred meters back. By now, the ocean was deep enough to swallow whales and they wouldn’t know it.

He kicked the boat once more.

“Eek-!” Gintoki squealed, to Hijikata’s never-ending delight. He so desperately wanted to record this so that he could play it back for an eternity of amusement. “H-h-h-h-hijikata-kuuun~” Gintoki stuttered. Being _threatening_ hadn’t worked, so he was trying a bit of sweet talk. “I’d ever so much appreciate if you just did this teeny favour for me and quit trying to cast us into the abyss.”

“What are you so scared of? Sea monsters?” Hijikata crooned, taking a break from rocking the boat to actually row. Gintoki was shaking too much to get a proper grip on the oars, and they did actually need to get to their destination sometime soon. The others were already far ahead. He would be extremely unimpressed (but not surprised) if Sougo initiated the assault before they got there.

Gintoki did not answer him, instead swallowing so hard his throat bobbed. The darkness probably wasn’t helping much, Hijikata thought, since the moon was barely visible tonight. The crescent of its shape cut through an otherwise empty sky, not a cloud in sight. They needed to get to that giant rock, scramble up the side and scout out an appropriate assault angle – all before dawn broke. Yamazaki had been sent ahead of the rest of the group which would give them a head-start. However, there was only so much he could achieve on his own and time was tight. He’d best get rowing.

“Come on, Yorozuya. Pick up an oar or we’ll be here all night. The faster we row, the quicker we get back to land.” Gintoki did so without arguing, certainly an unusual feat. A few minutes of frantic paddling later and they reached the halfway point. They were as far away from land as they could get. Hijikata felt a peculiar sense of dread crunch the pit of his stomach. _Yorozuya is washing off on me,_ he cursed. The dark night and deep water must be getting to him. Now they were pretty much alone, the silence was distracting, too. Silence except for the steady glug of the water slapping the underside of the boat … and what was that? He moved his foot and heard the splash of water.

“Uh-oh.”

Gintoki also looked down at where Hijikata’s foot was now partially submerged in water.

“Kyaaaa!” He screeched. “It’s not fucking _uh-oh_ , we’re going to die! We’re really going to die! Quick, bail! Bail!” He floundered at the water, cupping it with his palms and throwing it overboard.

“Stop yammering!” Hijikata scrambled to find the hole. It was hard to see in this darkness. He felt around, scratching the bottom of the boat. It was no use. He couldn’t find it. In any case, the water wasn’t flowing in too quickly, so he guessed it was only a small hole. The fact they hadn’t noticed it until now was reassuring.

“We’ll have to row quick,” he concluded, abandoning the search and returning to the oars.

“We’ll never make it!”

“We won’t if you keep babbling. Anyway, so what if we don’t? We row as far as we can get and swim the rest. Doesn’t really matter, does it? I’d rather not get wet, but we don’t have much choice. Pick up that paddle.”

“I-!” Gintoki began, quickly swallowing whatever he was going to say and chewing his lip. He shook his head and grabbed the oars, rowing more frantically than ever with renewed vigour.

In the soft light of the moon, Hijikata could make out the sheen of sweat on Gintoki’s pale face. He was surprised. He hadn’t put Gintoki down to be scared of anything – he was too stupid to know fear. And it must be a fear of the ocean in particular, since they’d definitely been around water before and he’d been unphased. Though come to think of it, he’d worn armbands.

A couple of minutes later, an ominous _thunk_ sounded and suddenly the flow of water doubled. The boat began to lean in Hijikata’s direction, Gintoki grasping at the sides of the boat to stop himself tumbling on top of him. Gintoki glanced frantically towards the shore. They were about 400m out. Gritting his teeth and bracing himself into the boat, he kept rowing.

“Just give it up, let’s swim the rest. This boat is done for.” Hijikata threw the oars into the bottom of the boat and removed his sheathed sword from his hip.

“N-n-n-n-n-no!” Gintoki quickly grabbed his trouser leg a second before he leapt into the ocean. “Back in Mr, back in you go.”

“Hey, let go!”

“Get back in and keep rowing.”

“Why are you so scared of a bit of water? What are you, a house cat?”

“Just row!”

It was no longer Hijikata’s decision, however, as the boat was tipping the two of them out. Gintoki’s breath caught once, twice, a third time.

“Alright, alright. Enough madness. Get out the boat.” Hijikata hopped off the side into the sea and gasped at the sudden chill that ran up his spine, his toes tingling in the cold. He took several deep breaths to steady his breathing. Gintoki was still clinging to the boat, looking more like a startled house cat with every second that passed. He was glaring at the water, teeth bared as though if he scowled hard enough, it would cower away.

“Get in, the cold won’t kill you.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not crazy. Gin-san doesn’t want to die today.”

Hijikata made a strangled gargle in irritation. He pulled himself through the black water in two quick pulls, his sheathed katana resting across his forearms. One hand gripping his katana, the other taking hold of the boat, he gave the craft five sharp pulls that shuddered the boat and eventually dislodged the squealing passenger. Gintoki rose a few seconds later than Hijikata expected, choking on the water, his arms flailing. Every object he tried to grasp floated away from him until he was surrounded only by the white crests of waves he was churning. Gintoki’s face burst through the water and he dragged in a sharp breath, taking in more water than air.

“Hey, calm down!” Hijikata said, with little effect. The number of seconds Gintoki spent above the water began to be surpassed by time spent underneath and suddenly, the pieces clicked together. “You can’t swim,” he mused, fascinated. He had only a short time to enjoy that thought, though – Gintoki was actually drowning. Each time he rose, he was only able to spit out water before his body dragged him under again. With another few strokes, Hijikata swerved round the sinking boat and over to the splashing site. The silver perm could no longer be seen. He took a breath and sunk under, keeping his katana on the surface with one hand. With the other, he brushed across Gintoki’s yutaka and with considerable effort, hauled the man back up. As soon as his mouth broke the water, Gintoki was wheezing in oxygen to fill his lungs, simultaneously coughing out liquid he’d managed to swallow.

“C’mon, you great oaf. Hold on to me.” Gintoki did not need to be told twice. In fact, from the weakness in Gintoki’s thrashing, he didn’t seem to have the energy to do much else but obey. It was considerably harder to swim now with a 90kg dead weight hung around his shoulders. He found the four wooden oars floating on the surface and plopped Gintoki across them like a float.

“I’ll be reporting this, Mr Policeman,” Gintoki slurred, still panting. “Attempted murder. Of a Civilian. Pay your taxes … you bastard.” Hijikata ignored the nonsense while the exhausted samurai recovered. Gintoki was still retching violently, his legs thrashing but luckily the oars were enough to keep his head above water. Once he seemed to be functioning again, he handed over his katana.

“Drop this and I leave you stranded here, got it?”

“Drop me and I’ll drop you,” he rebutted. “I’ll show Sougo where your figurine collection is hidden.”

“How the hell do you-,” Hijikata began, then decided they really did need to go now. He was going to have to haul this fat bastard all the way back to shore. He swam round the back of his floating contraption next to Gintoki’s legs and began to push. “Kick your legs.” He instructed. Gintoki did so, muttering something snide under his breath. “If you didn’t eat so much sugar, you’d be floating like a bubble right now.”

“If that were true, you should be sinking like the titanic with all the fat in your diet.”

“What fat?”

“Mayonnaise!”

“Mayo isn’t fattening. It lifts you up. That’s why I float, and you sink.”

“The reason Gin-san sinks is muscle weighs more than fat.” He raised one bicep and cocked it, his grin immediately swallowed by the wave he was sucked beneath. Hijikata had to reach into the depths of the waves to yank his smarmy ass back to the surface. Gintoki regained his breath, pouting furiously.

“That’s what you get for showing off, asshole. Jeez, how are you so bad at kicking your legs?”

Gintoki didn’t reply. Hijikata decided to focus on getting them back to shore, even though he knew it would be a shame to lose this advantage over Gintoki. Gintoki’s life was literally in his hands, which was probably why the big lump had decided to stop whining and behave. The silence didn’t last long.

“Would you stop nudging my leg?” Gintoki rammed his elbow into Hijikata’s side, winding him.

“I’m not nudging you!”

“You are! I can feel it!”

“It’s not me!”

“Then-!” Gintoki swallowed his words, a shiver rattling his bones.

“I-it’s your imagination,” Hijikata stammered. Whenever the yorozuya went pale like that, he would start to feel sick, too. It was infectious. “Probably seaweed.”

“Y-y-y-y-y-y-yeah,” he replied, teeth chattering. A second later, he jumped out of his skin, knocking Hijikata off the planks as he tried to scramble on top of them. He dropped Hijikata’s katana in the scuffle and the vice-commander had to flounder for it quickly before it sunk.

“Idiot! They can’t hold your weight!”

“S-s-s-s-s-something’s touching my leg!”

“I told you, it’s seaweed!” Hijikata felt a presence beneath him. A soft, skin-like object nuzzled his knee. In his haste to mount the planks with Gintoki, the oars scattered leaving the two of them to flop back into the ocean. As soon as he’d managed to right himself and gather his breath, he felt a sharp pressure surround his boot and bite down. With a grunt, he unsheathed his katana and stabbed into the water. There was a deafening screech, loud as thunder but muffled by the waves. The howl of an injured animal. The teeth sinking into his skin immediately retracted, but something sent Hijikata flying. He crested the waves with the force and then smacked back through the surface, the impact like breaking through glass. The water rose to swallow him. The pain in his shin throbbed, but a quick assessment said it was still attached – just bleeding. He tried not to thrash it as he swam for the surface.

“Gintoki!” The night was so dark he could barely make out the white of splashing water. That thing was likely still around. He had to get to Gintoki before it got to him. “Gintoki!” He called again, but the only response was a choking sound. His leg was slowing him down. It felt like every pull of his arms through the water only moved him an inch forwards when Gintoki was hundreds of miles away. Eventually, he reached him. Dragging his heavy body back up to the surface almost submerged himself with the effort. Gintoki threw up seawater with every choking breath. They had to swim. Quick.

The oars were gone, already scattered too far away to round up. The boat had long since disappeared. They had perhaps 350m to go. And that thing wouldn’t take long to recover. With the force he’d been hit with, he guessed their aggressor was an amanto. Nothing else swimming in these waters could possibly cause such damage. Gintoki began to slide from his shoulder, his body like lead.

“Oi! You can’t pass out!”

He jostled to get the man onto his back and grasped his arms with one hand, his katana with the other. No hands and only one leg. He’d never had any swimming lessons that prepared him for this. With a grunt, he jammed his katana between his teeth. That made breathing hard but staying afloat was their main concern now. Gintoki groaned, his body twitching. The fingers on one of Hijikata’s hands were clinging so tightly to Gintoki that his nails impaled Gintoki’s skin.

“ _That’s it, Yorozuya, come back_ ,” he thought. “ _You gotta swim_.”

Gintoki thrashed weakly, his breath still too fast and too irregular. Hijikata wanted to keep talking to him. From the few times he’d been knocked unconscious in emergencies, having a voice to tune into was like having a lighthouse to row towards. But he couldn’t talk with this katana wedged between his teeth. Instinct told Hijikata that something was coming. He felt the dread beneath him rise at an incredible speed, alarm bells ringing loud in his ears.

“ _Hold on for a second! Deep breath_!” Hijikata had to let go of Gintoki to grab his katana. He waited for the presence to get close enough, using every sense in his body to judge when this rising shadow would get within range. Gintoki was unable to hold on and immediately began to sink, his hands paddling weakly.

Now.

This time, he wouldn’t slash, he’d stab. The timing had to be perfect, the depth just right – too deep and he’d be unable to remove the blade and would be dragged down with the beast. Too shallow and he wouldn’t do enough damage. If the creature was anything like earth’s sharks, as soon as the prey started fighting back, the shark would retreat. It had tested the water for a while, probing at their legs. Then, it had taken a test bite. Now, it would attack.

Hijikata’s blade plunged into the water with all the force he could muster. He felt the steel make contact and rush on through the tough outer layer. His katana was sucked into the flesh beneath, almost up to the hilt. He didn’t have much time; he had to pull it out. When blades sink into flesh, they create a suction effect, making them hard to remove. He had to use all his strength to drag the blade through, the action like sawing at tough meat.

“Gintoki!” Hijikata called out. The waves were black and unperturbed – not a body in sight. His katana broke the surface, free at last. “Gintoki!” He called again. He took a heaving breath, wincing at the pain in his leg as he kicked down into the depths. The waters were completely black. He couldn’t make out even a sliver of moonlight once he was under the surface. It was hard enough figuring out which way was up. The churning of the current under the waves swallowed him up. He felt his body being twisted around like a ragdoll. The beast still roared, but the sound began to fade away. It was retreating. Unfortunately, the force of its movements slapped shock waves into Hijikata’s chest. He was running out of air. If he rose to the surface now, who knew how far Gintoki would sink. Go up for air? Or keep going down? His lungs felt like they had been sliced open with red hot knives, open to the elements. His chest ached. His heart rate soared as his body began to panic, instinct taking over. The only thing keeping him under water now was his fading consciousness.

There. His fingers brushed skin. He wasted not a second, grabbing on to what felt like an arm and hauling them both to the surface. He wasn’t going to make it. His body was on fire. He was going to die. He was going to drown. One final desperate pull crashed him through the surface of the water. He hauled in a breath, the first gasp mostly water. With a few more breaths, his mind became clearer. Next, Gintoki. The man’s face broke the waves but didn’t react. Hijikata slapped him on the back, yelling his name. He didn’t take a breath. His head rolled back.

“Breathe, damn it!” He flipped the man around so that Gintoki’s back was pulled into Hijikata’s chest. Folding his arms round tightly, he squeezed sharply. No reaction. Desperation shaking his hands, he dug his closed knuckle into Gintoki’s sternum and once again punched up abruptly into Gintoki’s diaphragm. A choked wheeze finally sounded.

Hijikata felt his head cloud. He was exhausted. It was taking all his energy just to keep the two of them afloat. He could only pray that monster wasn’t still prowling around. Holding Gintoki to his chest, he laid on his back and hooked one arm around Gintoki’s neck. Thankfully, he was now wheezing in strangled breaths, his chest heaving. Sea water drooled from the corner of his mouth. Hijikata began to kick his legs, driving them back to shore.

Kagura was waiting for them on the shore. As soon as she spotted Hijikata hauling the limp body of the Yorozuya, she dived straight into the waters to join him. Shinpachi followed soon after, scrambling down from the cliff and dashing into the water without a single hesitation. They took the weight of Gintoki, relief flooding Hijikata’s tired body. His uniform was completely soaked and as he walked through the shallow waves to the sand, each step dragged him down. He swore there were fish in his boots.

“Gin-chan!” Kagura and Shinpachi laid his body down on the sand as soon as they cleared the waves. Hijikata stumbled on after them, sinking to his knees when he got close.

“Give that stupid fool swimming lessons,” he panted. “Nearly got the both of us killed.”

“What happened to the boat, Hijikata-san?” Shinpachi asked after rolling Gintoki onto his side. Using two fingers, he lifted Gintoki’s chin to clear his airway. He was panting, but alive.

“It’s at the bottom of the ocean now.”

“I knew it was a bad idea to leave Gin-chan with you!” Kagura was scowling at him, lip curled.

“Hey, how is this my fault?!”

“We should probably thank you, Hijikata-san,” Shinpachi bowed slightly to him, smiling gratefully. “I’m not sure if I could have swum all that way with Gin-san as a dead weight.”

“Because he’s fat,” Kagura said, prodding Gintoki’s belly with one finger.

“Oii,” Gintoki coughed, groaning miserably, “stop poking at my sugar stash, brat.”

They all looked at him, surprised. Then, Kagura beamed from ear to ear. She hit him in the stomach, the force making Gintoki grunt.

“You made Mother worry!”

“You lot all got excited and left Gin-san behind.”

“You were too slow,” Kagura complained, massaging Gintoki’s permy hair comfortingly.

“That’s what’s wrong with this world, Kagura. All the poor people who can’t keep up get left behind. How do you think that makes Hijikata feel? He got left out on the sea alone, just because he’s a lousy rower? What sort of a world do we live in?”

“Oi! Don’t lump me in with you!”

Whatever happened after tonight – or by now, this morning – Hijikata would make sure Gintoki got swimming lessons. Even if he had to drag the bastard there.

**Author's Note:**

> Something to keep you guys tied over with while I update Trusting in Your Betrayal. Have faith, it will come! <3


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